The hotel is one of nine District businesses and non profit organizations recognized for their environmental stewardship, innovative best practices, pollution prevention, and resource conservation.

The hotel saved 745,685 kWh in electricity in 2009 from the previous  year with the implementation of energy efficient lighting with programmable and dimmable automation as well as utilization of the Energy Management System controlling the heating/cooling and lighting of its banquet space. It also will save an estimated 600,000 gallons of water a year by converting all restroom urinals to water-free. Other accomplishments include:

• Recycled wood flooring and linen-less dining tables in the Fire & Sage restaurant.
• Energy-efficient bulbs used for all lighting.
• Low-flow showerheads and toilets in guest bathrooms.
• A water/energy saving linen program that  includes both bedding and towels.
• Guestroom keys made from 50% recycled materials.

To celebrate the award, Washington Marriott at Metro Center will host a complimentary “Green Tea Time,” complete with iced green tea and Executive Chef Aaron Tootill’s freshly baked organic cookies and snacks, in its lobby every afternoon throughout the month of August.

Guest post by Carolyn Szczepanski

The demand for fresh, local food has put a premium on community garden space in all corners of the District.

Young people are reconnecting with their food sources, urban planners are preaching the gospel of green space and families are eager to prepare dinner with organic produce they’ve nurtured from seed.

But it takes more than dirt and desire to make a garden grow.

Cultivating that perfect heirloom tomato or harvesting a bumper crop of crisp greens requires one key ingredient: knowledge. In 2008, the Neighborhood Farm Initiative sprouted to fill that void for DC growers.

“While there’s plenty of great gardening books and online resources, NFI was started as a hands-on, educational center to really walk total newbie gardeners step-by-step through their first growing season,” says Liz Whitehurst, NFI’s volunteer coordinator.

And NFI is wise beyond its years. The community garden movement isn’t a new phenomenon, Whitehurst points out. The current trend is just the latest page in a much longer history — one that started with Victory Gardens after World War II.

“While recent initiatives have brought more media attention to people growing their own food in Washington DC right now, several dozen community gardens have existed here since the mid-1970s,” Whitehurst says. “We work alongside several community gardeners who have been cultivating their plots since before we were born, and we recognize that people in our generation didn’t invent the idea of eating homegrown food.”

So it’s fitting that NFI’s fundraiser next week bridges the gap between generations.

On Thursday, NFI hosts Saving Seeds: A Night of Food, Film and Conversation on Urban Gardening Through the Generations. The $25 ticket price — which benefits the nonprofit — includes local, seasonal hors d’oeuvres, an open wine bar, and a cinematic double-header.

The first film screening, Corner Plot, is an intimate and heart-warming window into the life of 89-year-old Charlie Koiner, who’s been gardening his one-acre plot inside the Beltway for decades. The second movie short follows Teen Green, a summer program NFI launched in 2010 to educate local youth about urban farming, from seed to sale.

“When we first saw Corner Plot, we were struck by the difference between Charlie Koiner’s way of life and the lifestyles of the teens we work with every day,” Whitehurst says. “But as we thought more about it, we began to see some powerful connections, and we wanted to give others the opportunity to make their own.”

Those organic connections will be fleshed out after the films, during a Q&A including Corner Plot filmmaker Ian Cook, Koiner’s daughter and several teens from NFI’s summer program.

“Education is at the core of our mission,” Whitehurst says. “We want to teach people to grow vegetables in the city, and we want to connect people to serve as resources to each other.”

photo courtesy Revolution Cycles

Guest post by Carolyn Szczepanski

Bicycling is a boys’ club.

There’s no women’s bracket of the Tour de France and it’s a rare sports fan that can name a single female racer.

Here in the U.S., men are twice as likely to ride a bike than their female counterparts and, in DC, barely a third of cycling commuters are ladies. So it’s not surprising that bicycle shops ooze testosterone.

That’s why Revolution Cycles, a local retailer, is using a laid-back happy hour to make biking more welcoming to women.

Katie Knight isn’t just the general manager at Revolution Cycles’ Georgetown location, she’s also an evangelist for its upcoming “Ladies Night” events. At her store, plenty of women work the floor and run the business, but Knight still feels the boys’ club stigma. “Women in particular tend to be a little intimidated,” she says of the bike shop.

That doesn’t mean they’re not interested in cycling. Riding a bike is one of the best ways to both reduce your carbon footprint (33 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 came from transportation) and shrink your waistline (more than 22 percent of DC residents are classified as obese). The reason many women don’t commute or recreate on two wheels is simple: They don’t feel comfortable on a bicycle.

Ladies Night aims to change that with a relaxed atmosphere, women-led discussion and, yes, a few glasses of wine. The female-focused event will be hosted at each of the retailers’ five locations, starting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Rockville and wrapping up August 12 at the Georgetown location.

At each Ladies Night, women get the basics about buying a bike that caters to female-specific anatomy and tips about what to wear, where to ride, and how to stay safe. But the evening isn’t meant to be a one-way street. Ladies Night is only successful, Knight says, when the lecture is simply a short prelude to mixing, mingling, and meeting other bicycle-curious women.

“The point is really informing women, and connecting them to each other as a community of riders,” Knight says.

And, listen up guys, because research shows that everybody benefits when women start pedaling. “There’s this correlation that when women get on bikes, the community becomes more cycling friendly and cycling aware,” Knight adds. “It’s better for the bike community overall when women get on bikes.”

At the event, you can drop off appliances for recycling at no charge and pick up applications for rebates on certain ENERGY STAR qualified appliances.

During the event, Pepco will also announce the winners of its $5,000 ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Sweepstakes. Five D.C. customers will receive $1,000 gift cards to The Home Depot to be put towards the purchase of new, more efficient appliances.

The event will also feature live entertainment, refreshments, interactive displays on energy conservation, and family-friendly activities. Several D.C. government agencies, including the D.C. Department of the Environment, the District Public Service Commission, and the D.C. Office of People’s Counsel also will be on-hand.

With a focus on building relationships and education, the eco-forum is an opportunity for innovative thought leaders, business entrepreneurs, and senior executives from all disciplines in the green space to mingle and learn from each other.

The first DC event takes place at Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar on Tuesday July 27th at 6 pm.

Keynote speakers include Christophe Tulou, Director of the District Department of the Environment and Jeff Blankman, Sustainable Manufacturing Manager for McCormick & Company.

Complimentary gourmet and organic passed hors d’oeuvres will be served for all three hours, along with organic signature cocktails courtesy of Philadelphia Distiller and Parducci organic wine.

Apply to attend today (please put “grassfed media” in the “how did you hear about us field”). Cost is $75 and admission is based on corporate affiliation and is only granted to director and C-Level executives, business owners, CSR executives, sustainability executives, and non-profit leaders.

Eco-Forum Regional Founding Members:

Keith Anderson, Head of the D.C. Energy Office
Christopher O’Brien, Director of the Office of Sustainability for George Washington University
Megan Chapple-Brown, Director of the Office of Sustainability for American University
Christophe Tulou, Director of the District Department of the Environment
Charles Dean Connor, President & CEO, American Lung Association
Sacha Cohen, Principal & Founder, grassfed media llc
Eli Hengst, Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar
Jeff Blankman, Sustainable Manufacturing Manager for McCormick & Company
Jared Rager, Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar

The dairy is located on Spring Wood Organic Farm, where a single herd of grass-fed cows supplies all of the milk and cream used in Pitango’s organic gelato. The farm’s new solar panels  are generating enough electricity to operate the farm and the dairy.

Aside from long-term economic incentives, Spring Wood owner Roman Stoltzfoos decided to go solar to reduce the farm’s carbon footprint. “It is a substantial investment for us, but it is clearly the right thing to do to make the farm and the dairy greener,” he says. “We’ll be using much less fossil fuel for what we have to do.”

The farm even uses a solar panel on its high-tech “Egg-Mobile,” which houses free-range hens that provide the daily supply of freshly laid eggs used in some of Pitango’s recipes. The hen house on wheels with solar-powered feeders, lights, egg laying boxes, and doors “delivers all of the modern bells and whistles,” says Stoltzfoos, “with minimal environmental impact.”

“It’s not always easy being green,” says Pitango Gelato founder and CEO Noah Dan. “A large component of our product is energy, so naturally we think about it all the time. For us, being green is being smart, and finding a path to improve our product and its sustainability is our ultimate goal.”

The shift toward solar on the farm is only one example of Pitango’s energy-efficient practices. Pitango’s custom-made bancone (gelato cases) used in each shop are liquid-cooled by glycol–an energy-retaining liquid derived from corn. Once the glycol is adequately cooled, it requires very little energy to maintain a temperature that is optimal for storing the gelato at the perfect consistency, with each flavor in its own sealed compartment. Dan estimates that Pitango’s bancone consume as little as one-tenth of the electricity of comparable air-cooled display cases. Pitango also uses biodegradable serving cups, coffee cups and gelato spoons.

Pitango matches its eco-friendly practices with a commitment to create a healthier product. The company’s artisanal gelato contains less fat than premium ice cream, while its sorbets contain no dairy products and are vegan and fat-free.

Made with ingredients, from fresh local fruit to organic chocolate, Pitango’s products contain no flavorings, colorings, or chemicals of any kind.

The fundraiser, which will raise money to support the fight against poverty and climate change, will be held at Longview Gallery, a stunning, modern gallery space on 9th Street, two blocks from the Convention Center.

The evening will be emceed by NBC4′s Wendy Rieger and will also feature special guest Van Jones. Sponsors include Honest Tea, Foster’s Wine, grassfed media, and Peak Organics Beer.

The evening’s passed hors d’oeuvres will include Smoked Salmon Cornucopia with Dilled Crème Fraiche and Spinach and Mushroom Cigars with Romesco Sauce from Restaurant Nora. Trainees from DC Central Kitchen will be preparing all of the food. Beverage choices will include organic wine and beer, assorted Honest Teas, and Fresh Start natural water.

Tickets are selling out fast, so get yours today!

About Green DMV

Green DMV promotes sustainability in low-income communities as a pathway out of poverty. The organization uses a three-point system that focuses on targeted areas of the community including small and disadvantaged businesses, underserved school districts, and community stakeholders.

At the Virginia Avenue Community Garden, the buzz of freeway traffic hangs overhead, but the air is thick with the rich scent of basil and tangy aroma of tomatoes. It’s that perfect time just before dusk, when the sun turns the world golden, and Diana Elliott savors the moment.

She ducks under the shade of a plum tree, so heavy with produce the branches sag, and picks one of the purple fruits. “This land has been so good to us,” she says, savoring the juice from the plum and tossing the pit under the tree.

But this land may be paved over for new military quarters.

Nearby, a group of volunteers gather under a wooden pagoda of this four-acre plot in south Capitol Hill. They paint signs and staple small green fliers to plastic bags of vegetable and flower seeds. Among them is Elliott’s son, Eamon Cole, who dabs color on a page that says, “Do not take my garden!”

In September, Elliott and the other member of the Virginia Avenue Community Garden heard the first rumblings that the U.S. Marines needed to expand their residential barracks and, among the proposed sites for construction, was the land currently occupied by the community garden. Now those rumbling have turned into a real threat: The garden is one of the last-standing locations on a shrinking list of development options.

The gardeners don’t dispute the Marines’ need for new barracks and they agree the military has been a great neighbor. But, Elliott says, this community garden sets the table and feeds the spirit of 60 member families. In the six years since this land was cultivated, the love affair with local food has made this plot nearly priceless. Some community gardens in Capitol Hill, Elliott says, have wait lists as long as seven years.

“There’s a huge demand and people keep adding community gardens every year,” Elliott says. “So the idea that they want to take away the biggest community garden around here and they don’t see that as a problem is really, really frustrating.”

In less than a decade, dozens of area families transformed this previously troubled landscape. “It was basically a drug park,” says Nicole Hamam, who’s been gardening here for four years. “Now, people have been moving in because they saw this and not the freeway. The sweat equity that’s in here and what it’s done for the value of this area is something you can’t put a number on.”

So the gardeners are determined to preserve this refuge from the Marines. When the gardeners created a “Save Virginia Avenue Park” Facebook page, it quickly garnered more than 400 fans. Within the first few days of their grassroots campaign, filmmakers from Roadside Organics produced a four-minute movie about their efforts.

“There are no strong advocates for parks,” Elliott says of the city establishment. “People still see parks as space for building and they don’t see the benefit of a green space for green space’s sake. There’s nobody advocating for us, which is why we’re doing this. We have to advocate for ourselves.”

Late last week, the gardeners got their first district council member on board. On Thursday, Council member Tommy Wells signed on to Save Virginia Avenue Park. So far, the online petition has nearly 200 signatures.

“You know, it’s just kind of a Zen place,” Hamam says of the garden. “It’s a place to watch things grow, to take care of things. It’s hard work. It’s accomplishment. It’s a special thing: An oasis in an urban environment.”

Consuming Choices Book Party

WHEN: Tuesday June 29th from 6-8.
WHERE: Busboys and Poets, 2121 14th Street NW (2 blocks from the U Street/Cardoza Metro)

DETAILS: Please join author David Schwartz for a cocktail party celebrating his new book, Consuming Choices.

The book raises questions about consumers and whether we share culpability for unethical and immoral practices associated with the products we purchase. To answer, author David T. Schwartz provides the most detailed philosophical exploration to date on consumer ethics. There will be a cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres. Please RSVP by to sacha@grassfedmediadc.com.

Plastic Pollution Coalition Cocktail Fundraiser

WHEN: Wednesday June 30th from 7-9
WHERE: Muleh, 831 14th Street NW

DETAILS: This cocktail event and fundraiser supports the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a non-profit organization committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating plastic pollution globally.

Single-use plastics in particular and plastics overall are some of the biggest contributors to the current global environmental crisis. Aside from being petroleum-based products, plastics do harm beyond the fossil fuel related issues. 90% of the ocean trash is plastic. Nearly 40% of landfill trash is plastic. Single-use plastics are contributing to the privatization of water. Once created, plastic never biodegrades. The only way of ‘getting rid of it’ is to burn it, which releases toxins into the air.

There are alternatives to plastics – what is needed is the momentum to promote these alternatives and to raise awareness to the crisis.

Donations will be taken at the door or online (Platinum $500, Gold $250, Silver $100, Bronze $50). RSVP by June 28 to rsvp@plasticpollutioncoalition.org or 202.997.8400.

Photo credit: Kim Maxwell Vu

The new Dupont Circle  restaurant Agora (1527 17th Street, NW), which opened in May 2010, is working on being green from the ground up.

Most of the restaurant’s materials are recycled or reclaimed and the cement flooring and exposed brick walls are natural conductors of heat and cold.

Agora’s Mediterranean organic and biodynamic wines are kept in a naturally controlled temperature wine room with recycled wood racks and are even served in glassware made from recycled cork and glass.

Other eco-friendly elements:

- An in-house water filtration provides still or sparkling water.
- All bottles, paper, and plastic are recycled.
- Recycled paper is used for the printed menus
- The kitchen’s cooking oil is donated to be repurposed as biodiesel fuel
- Environmentally friendly hand dyers in the bathroom
- Natural light is used as much and for as long as possible

Agora, which means “gathering place” in Greek brings authentic Turkish cuisine to the heart of Dupont with a variety of Mediterranean mezes. The bar also offers six different types of anise-flavored raki, as well as cocktails that highlight Turkish ingredients, such as one that uses Turkish figs.